1932 Ford Five-Window Coupe - Street Shaker

When Street Rodder asks an owner and/or builder for a few words about the vehicle the magazine just finished photographing, you usually get a long list of who did what and an even longer parts list to make into a story. But sometimes the owner/builder will write their story down in such great detail in how the project came about that it is good enough to publish “as is,” which is the case with the owner of this car, Ron Wolcott, and the builder, Garret Kitchen, of Garret’s Rod Shop in Columbus, Ohio. Here’s their story:

2/6If the bright orange paint doesn’t stop you, then the BDS-blown 460 Ford should do the trick! Topped with a custom air cleaner from Garret’s Rod Shop, the big-block Ford uses forged pistons, rods, and crank, along with an ignition from MSD and a Griffin radiator. The 460 backs to a Tremec five-speed transmission.

Like so many of us gearheads, we can remember some inspiring moment that made us fall in love with cars. Maybe it was an uncle who took us to the races or perhaps a neighbor who had the hottest car on the block, but one thing was certain: One day we would own a car just like the one that changed everything. Ron Wolcott, from Canal Winchester (just outside Columbus, Ohio) and his 1932 Ford five-window coupe share a similar story of that “dawning moment” and the dream to one day own a bad ’n’ blown street shaker.

In 1978, when he was just 11 years old, Ron could be found hanging out at a local hot rod shop in the town he grew up in: Columbus, Indiana. The moment began when a well-respected client of the shop arrived with his hot rod on a trailer. Ron noted it had a really big motor and a blower and, when they fired it up, Ron was awestruck. A few years later, Ron saw the movie American Graffiti, which brought back those earlier memories of that day at the hot rod shop and, from that point on, he knew right then that one day he had to have a big, bad, blown hot rod, too.

3/6

As the years passed Ron got into other types of motorized hobbies (Harleys, power boats, etc.) but it wasn’t until 2009 when he got the fever to live out his childhood passion to one day own a street rod. Now living outside Columbus, Ohio, Ron looked at a couple of shops that could help him with his dream but, as it turned out, those shops were not taking the car in the direction he was hoping for. Ron then found Garret’s Rod Shop and things started clicking.

4/6

One thing about Ron that was a little different than most of their customers, Garret’s was surprised to find out that Ron, though he was a dyed-in-the-wool gearhead for many years, had never owned a custom car nor had he ever been to a car show!

Garret Kitchen, along with his shop foreman, Jim Leonard, saw this as a great opportunity to not only build this car in time to for the 2011 Goodguy’s PPG Nationals, but also a perfect location to baptize Ron into the car show world. The idea on the build was to make this car a nice, ultra-modern street machine, but still maintain a classy nostalgic look. Garret’s started with a New Age Motorsports fiberglass five-window body that sits on a Total Cost Involved Engineering’s chassis that is stretched 3 inches. Classic Cragar five-spoke wheels with whitewalls (the rears being cheater slicks) give this beast the proper stance. The powerplant is a fire-breathing Ford 460 with a BDS 8-71 blower and dual chrome Holley carbs. To transfer the power, a Tremec five-speed transmission and an aluminum driveshaft connect to a Ford 9-inch rear.

5/6Glide bucket seats were covered in tan Ultraleather by Portage trim. More of the material was used on the door panels and headliner.

Garret’s designed the air cleaner’s scoop to reflect the design found in the slingshot dragsters of the past. Sanderson headers feed the exhaust and come with optional cutouts, just like Milner’s car had in American Graffiti. The House of Kolor Tangelo Orange paint was shot by Chris Hays of Hay’s Custom Painting (Columbus, Ohio) and the interior was finished out by Portage Trim (Ravenna, Ohio) with tan leather and engine-turned accents. What might also be surprising is all of this work was done in less than nine months in order to get the car finished in time for the Goodguys show.

6/6The dash is a ’glass unit to which Garret’s added an engine-turned panel that houses a set of Auto Meter gauges. A Ron Francis Wiring kit was used to wire the car, and the five-window is equipped with sounds from Stereo Limited and A/C from Vintage Air.

So when Ron arrived he not only was introduced to his finished car but to the mind-numbing sensory overload of attending one of the largest street rod shows in the world! Ron, along with his wife, Kamala, and their youngest son had a blast and went rumbling around the fairgrounds in their new ’32. And who knows? Maybe this car will be the one that will spark the dream for some young hot rodder just the same way Ron was all those years ago.

Tech Tips

COMP

Monitor valve lash for signs of trouble

When it comes to valve lash, don’t just check and adjust periodically. Carefully monitoring changes in lash over time can give you a good clue to the health of your valves, seats, lifters, and camshaft. If you find the lash in one or more of the valves opening up, it may be the first sign that your valvetrain needs to be looked at.

FAST

Can I increase power with a larger throttle-body diameter?

This is a major misunderstanding in our market. Throttle “diameter” has absolutely nothing to do with torque curves or if an engine makes power down low or up high. All it does is dictate how much restriction the intake will see (less is better), and the size is directly proportional to throttle metering. If you open a large-diameter throttle 10 percent, it is equivalent to opening a smaller diameter throttle 15 percent. FAST only recommends 102mm throttle bodies with “convolute” barrels for proper driveability.

Inglese

How does Weber carburetor terminology work?

Every Weber carburetor has an alphanumeric model number stamped on. This number is made up of a numeric prefix indicating the carburetor bore and throttle plate diameter, and an alphabetic suffix that indicates what type of carb it is. For example, the Weber 48 IDA model number tells us the carburetor has a bore and throttle plate diameter of 48 mm, while the IDA suffix tells us that this is a high-performance twin-throat downdraft carburetor. DCNFs are compact twin-throats with a cold-start feature and all sidedraft carburetors carry the suffix DCOE.